Here is a link to yesterday’s historic OEPA/POE press conference at the Capitol:

Listen to the entire approximately 30-minute press conference to learn about Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry and its place in our state as THE major funding source for core services and education! Yesterday was historic in that it was the first time in Oklahoma that an energy organization collaborated with an education association regarding education funding!

Here are two memorable quotes from yesterday…

Rep. Leslie Osborn: “If we do nothing this year, to fix our recurring revenue problem, we’re going to release 2600 prisoners early, we’re going to close half of our rural hospitals, we’re going to close at least half of our regional colleges, and we will never get a teacher pay raise. ”

Former Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett: “There are many ideas that are being floated on how to pay for the needs of our core services. But in my opinion, they will all not really take effect for several years now at best if they are passed. By this one idea of making parity of an existing tax, we will see the effect immediately, this year…We won’t have to wait three or four years to suddenly see the entirety of our educational system gone. We can’t afford to wait…”

Our thanks to POE for allowing us to be a part of their journey to make the revision of this revenue stream a reality in order to fund pay raises for Oklahoma’s teachers.